Loopholes
by Freline
Summary: Shiv kala thought the Drakh would be safe on Centauri Prime. He was wrong. About four years after coming to the planet they made a mistake, which caused their presence revealed to the Alliance.
1. Chapter 1

Londo smiled as he saw Senna and Vir enter the room, which he had invited for dinner. The last few years they had been the only thing that let him forget about the pain of the punishments the Drakh gave him every day to remind him who was in charge. To watch them becoming closer meant more to him than he ever thought possible. In a way they were like he and Timov could have been, if they had tried to make their marriage work.

It was still hard to believe that she was actually here in the palace after she had spent so much time avoiding him, not that he could not understand why. He had not been the best husband to her and now he regretted it, like so many other things, the worst of it had been his deal with the Shadows and watching the bombing of Narn.

He sat down at the table and started to eat. During the meal he looked at the young couple across from him, glad that they were so happy together that they barely noticed him. No one deserved happiness more than Vir, who had helped Londo with everything, no matter how he had been treated.

At the end of the meal he suddenly heard Shiv´kala´s voice in his head, who ordered him to come to the throne room immediately. Londo excused himself from his guests, which looked at each other and then followed him until they reached Vir´s quarters where they wished him a good night, before they disappeared inside.

After they had closed the door, Londo walked the rest of the way to the throne room, expecting another punishment. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he entered. Right in front of the throne, hands in cuffs, was someone he never expected to see again.

When he heard Londo´s footsteps, the man turned around, which caused the guards to point their weapons at him. But he did not seem to notice them and looked straight at him or rather at his shoulder as if he knew about the keeper, which was impossible. But before Londo could say anything, Durla, his recently appointed Prime Minister ordered the guards to take the prisoner away.

The keeper forced Londo to sit on the throne in silence late into the night. When he was finally allowed to get up, it was almost morning again. He went to his quarters and opened the first bottle of brivari, ready to put the keeper to sleep, so that he could decide what to do now after the unexpected arrival. Suddenly he had a chance to let his friends know what was happening on Centauri Prime, but he first needed to find a way to get the prisoner out and off the planet which would be nearly impossible. After his fifth bottle he noticed that the keeper was sleeping and he started to plan. An hour later, he went to the cells. The guard looked unconfortable as he let Londo pass, but he could not say no to the Emperor.

When he entered, the prisoner looked at him with fear. His face was full of scars and there was nothing left that reminded Londo of the young man he had known on Babylon 5 and who would do anything for Delenn. Lennier had certainly been through much since they had last met, they all had, but no one than him showed it more clearly.


	2. Chapter 2

Vir stood on the balcony of his room, looking at the city below. It was mostly rebuilt now, even though it still showed signs of the attack by the Narn and the Drazi four years ago. After the attack and the withdrawal of the Centauri from the alliance, all of them had left Babylon 5. As there had been no need of a Centauri Ambassador anymore, they were hated by the other races now anyway, Vir had become the new minister of intelligence. When he asked Londo why he had been chosen for the position, his friend had laughed and replied: "You managed to smuggle hundreds of Narn from their planet without anyone except me ever knowing about it. There is no one who could do it better."

Soon after that he had first met Senna during a long night of celebrations they both found boring.

They had sat at a fountain in the palace gardens and talked all night. Not long after that Senna started to come into his room and share his bed at night. That had been four years ago and now she and Londo were the two only people on the planet he felt he could trust.

The evening before he had cooked her dinner and asked her to become his first wife. She had accepted and he still could not really believe it. After his experience with Lyndisty he had started to think that he would never find the woman he wanted, a woman he loved, not just one that his uncle had chosen for him.

When he had told Londo the news this morning he had expected that his friend would be happy for him. Instead it seemed like the upcoming wedding was something that made him sad. He told Vir to leave the room immediately. He had not seen Londo the entire day and that made him suspicious.

He did not see Senna either, she seemed to have disappeared as well. So he had sat in his room and tried everything he could to make himself believe that nothing was going on, but he had not been successful.

When he had taken a short walk in the garden, he had heard two of the guards talking about a Minbari prisoner they had brought to the cells on order of Prime Minister Durla. Vir had never understood why Londo had chosen this man for the position, he did not even like him.

If Durla thought that the prisoner, whoever it was, was important, then Vir had to find a way to speak to him. After the Centauri had cut themselves off from the rest of the galaxy, he had heard nothing about what was happening outside of Centauri Prime. This could be his first real chance of getting any news from President Sheridan, Delenn, G´Kar or Lennier. During the years he had heard some rumours, but nothing he really believed. Even if it was not true, it still made him miss the four who had been his friends while he was still living on Babylon 5.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Vir turned around and smiled as he saw Senna standing there. She was wearing the most beautiful dress he had ever seen on her, which left him speechless. When she noticed, she laughed and pulled him away from the balcony and out of the room.

They walked along several corridors, before Senna finally stopped in front of a door. She told him to close his eyes, which he did. Then she opened it and pushed him inside, before she allowed him to open his eyes again. When he looked around the room or rather suite, Vir could not believe what he saw, it was absolutely perfect. Senna noticed his expression, laughed again and said: "I know what you are thinking, I felt the same when Londo showed it to me this afternoon. He knew what you were planning before you even told him and he made a deal with the couple who was living here before, so that we can move in here together. It might be a little early, but it is his wedding present."


End file.
